Hood Rat

BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 2012 SHORTLISTED FOR THE CRIME WRITERS ASSOCIATION NON-FICTION DAGGER AWARD ‘THE MOST IMPORTANT CRIME STORY OF THE DECADE’ Scottish Mail Manchester. London. Glasgow. In the summer of 2011 violence erupted in our inner cities and many blamed gang culture. But is the truth so simple? Hood Rat tells the human stories that the media miss: of young men who have fallen through the system, and of one young woman with a vision for change. ‘Unflinching. It penetrates environments that most of us only ever glimpse’ Observer ‘Impressive. Knight uncovers the sort of stories that never make the news’ Scotsman ‘This British sensation is a must. Disturbingly compelling’ Marie Claire ‘A gripping novelistic immersion in the lives of young criminals’ Louis Theroux ‘The British Wire’ BBC Radio 5 Live

After the deaths and arrests of his entire crew and an informant-fueled investigation into his past, the man known on the streets as Animal relocates to Texas and finds fame and stardom as the newest act signed to the notorious Big Dawg Entertainment. His girlfriend, Gucci, is thrilled when she gets the news that he's coming back to New York on a promotional tour, but when she discovers the hidden agenda behind his homecoming nothing can prepare her for the life-altering consequences that will come of it. There goes the neighborhood . . . again.

Only the strong survie on the streets of Brooklyn. And while Dena Jones definitely has what it takes not only to survive but to succeed, she wants out. And she's determined to make it out of Crooklyn. She's determined to make it out of Crooklyn by any means necessary and doesn't have a problem manipulating men to get what she wants. Just ask her boyfriend Lance, or his girlfriend Michelle. True has finally made it. His debut album has the streets going crazy and is threatening to spill over into the mainstream. After the murder of his group, his jump off and almost his dreams, True's life is finally starting to look up, until karma catches up with him. Somebody wants him dead and he doesn't know why, or does he? Jah and Yoshi's was supposed to be a romance straight out of a story but there are no such things as fairy tails in the ghetto. Her position as a stylist keeps her in the mix and in the company of some industry heavyweights. Jah tries to be understanding but he can't help but to wonder just how much he can trust his girlfriend. He had promised to love her regardless of her past but in addition to wondering whether his girlfriend is creeping with her clients Jah has got a bigger problem. Someone is trying to kill True and its his job to make sure that doesn't happen.

National bestselling author K’wan presents a story of four women fighting to survive in the urban jungle. Yoshi is young, fine, and larcenous. She lives her life playing on men’s hearts as well as their pockets. She learns the hard way that all that glitters isn’t gold. Billy, a former high school basketball star, has been looking for love. Then she meets someone new and her whole world is turned upside down and she will never be the same. Reese is an around-the-way chick, trying to keep up with the Joneses. There’s a revolving door on her bedroom as she tries to find the love she always felt was missing. Her promiscuity leaves her pregnant from a one-night stand and Reese is faced with the task of breaking an age-old cycle, passed down from mother to daughter in her family, and standing on her own. Rhonda is twenty-something with three kids, by three men, and riding the system all the way to the bank. To her, work is a dirty word; between the multiple checks she gets from the government, and the games she plays with men, she’s living the life of a ghetto superstar. The game soon turns ugly when one of her “sponsors” snaps and decides to get some payback. Harlem has never seen four friends as scandalous as these. The neighborhood will never be the same again.

MEET THE ULTIMATE HOODRAT Sierra is a trifling hoe that cares only for herself despite the fact that she has three children who depend on her. Sucking, fucking, scheming, and living off of her children consume her life as she attempts to skate through life for free. When a scheme goes wrong and things come to a screeching halt, Sierra soon learns that every bridge she’s crossed has burned and no one is coming to her rescue. Walk with us, talk with us, and see things, through the eyes of a Hoodrat. Hoodrat- A female that exhibits trifling behavior and partakes in scandalous activity.

When three young friends, Porsha, Frankie and Sahara, decide to sublease an apartment from a mutual acquaintance, life becomes one big party for the girls. But the party comes to an abrupt end when they find out they've been fleeced for their money and an eviction notice is taped to their door. They have seventy-two hours to come up with the money or be tossed into the streets by the city marshals. Armed with various schemes, they set out to try and stop the eviction and find themselves caught in the crossfire of a bloody war between the Notorious Clark family and a new player in the game. Meanwhile the police are still searching for the killer known only as The Animal, while his former lover Gucci tries to put the pieces of her life back together. When all is said and done, all parties involved will discover something about Animal and his abduction that no one was prepared for. There goes the neighborhood, again!One of Library Journal's Best Street Lit Books of 2011

Experience life in the hood through the eyes of four friends, known around the way as The Hood Rats. As the girls go through the ups and downs of friendship and life on the streets, youll be taken on a roller coaster ride of love, heartache and pain. When tragedy strikes the group, the bond of friendship is tested and easily broken by lies, deceit and betrayal. Open your mind, and see that sometimes a Hood Rat is just a girl trying to live her life the best she can with what she has. You cant judge a book by the cover, but is there more to a Hood Rat than her reputation? You be the judge!